Search

I’m helping launch an online magazine and a print magazine. (Two totally different magazines with two totally different subjects.) It’s fun, exciting work. And it’s exhausting and time consuming. My husband and I just started running. It’s really hot out, so it kind of sucks. But it’s also great bonding time, and we both feel great when we’re done. So mostly it’s wonderful. I also just discovered Grey’s Anatomy, which is substantially slowing down progress on all of the above.

And with all of those projects* blogging and for-fun photography have somewhat fallen by the wayside. I haven’t fogotten about them. I’ve still been thinking of ideas for fun posts, I just haven’t had time to actualize those posts. And, I kind of haven’t been taking a picture every day.

I’ve been thinking of ways that I can make this blog work, with my now-limited free time. I’d thought of abandoning the photo challenge completely. I’d thought of a few replacement series. I’d thought about abandoning Living With the Birds. Everything made me incredibly sad and discouraged.

And then yesterday my husband interviewed a woman who has lost 200 lbs.

The advice she gave him: Take things one day at a time.

We’re human. We make mistakes. Sometimes we don’t follow through on things we plan to. Even with the best of intentions, sometimes we don’t have time, or we’re tired, or we come up with some other excuse.

Sometimes our goal is to run three times a week, and we go a week and a half without lacing up our tennis shoes. But messing up doesn’t mean you have to quit. That doesn’t mean you can’t run your heart out (not literally) the next week.

We need to learn to take life, and our commitments, one day at a time, because no one is perfect and no one is on their A-game every day of the year. And sometimes when things aren’t working out, instead of getting discouraged and quitting, we need to adjust our plans so that we can still acheive our goals.

So I’m following that advice. I’m adjusting my plan to make this blog, and this photo challenge workable for me.

The photo challenge is no longer going to be about taking and sharing one photo every day; that’s not really possible for me right now. I’m not quite sure what the photo challenge is going to evolve in to. I’m in thought about it. Maybe I’ll set a number of photos to take each week, or maybe I’ll come up with something else. I’m open to suggestions.

I’m not quitting. I’m evolving, and I’m taking life one day at a time.

*Yes, watching Grey’s Anatomy is a project. It’s how I watch TV; I’m a very active participant in everything I do.

I started the week with a to-do list that I was confident I would never be able to finish.

And then my laptop and I got into an argument mid-week (coincidently, mid-to-do-list). I decided it was time to end our 5-year relationship. I quickly rebounded with a new desktop, finished the to-do list, and ended the week on top.

In the midst of all this computer drama, I didn’t keep up with blogging and now I don’t know what photos I took when. I tried to keep take a photo every day, but everything is kind of jumbled.

So this is post is kind of a hodge-podge, mixed-match catch up sort of post. I’m kind of sorry. But I’m kind of not, because I think it will be fun and kind of a life lesson in disguise. It’s good to forget plans and live life as it comes every now and then.

Dustin and I were searching out frozen custard, and in the process of turning around in a store’s parking lot, we discovered the largest flea market/antique store in Missouri. We spent an hour browsing and only looked through a fourth of the store before it closed for the day. I bought this fun blanket, and we went back the next day. The best thing about this store is that there were a lot of really cool things, and very few “who bought this to begin with” things.

Our balcony has an increasing bird population. They like to play in our flowers and hang out on our railing. At first I thought it was some sort of strange fluke, but they’ve been back every day for almost a week.

One night this week I was playing with my camera on the balcony while talking to Dustin who was playing video games just inside the door.

The lighting was wonderful, and I was having fun taking photos of my plants, my dog, my balcony furniture. But let’s be honest, there’s a limited number of things one can take a photo of on a small balcony, so I at one point I was taking pictures of my feet with the grass in the background.

And then the lady who lives on the first floor drove up and asked if I was taking surveillance photos.

And at that point I realized that maybe what I was doing came across as extra-creepy.

I’m not creepy, I’m just weird. And awkward.

It’s really not a creepy photo.

Well, unless you think feet are creepy.

But I quit taking photos for the night, and I’ve been making an effort to be more conscious of my surroundings.

That’s my awkward story for the week. Have you had any sharable awkward moments lately?

Some people go through food phases and eat a lot of sandwiches. Some people go through clothing phases and wear jeans and T-shirts almost every day. I go through photo phases and photograph all the patterns I see. It’s a quirk.

June 7 – And then I joined my generation

I downloaded the Instagram app on my iPad a few months ago. I played with it for about five minutes, decided it didn’t live up to the hype and didn’t touch it again.

But then on Thursday I gave it a second try. I’m pretty sure I love it now. If you want to follow me, then you should. I only have 4 followers right now, and that’s kind of lame. My username is mrsktbarton.

June 8 – Good Intentions

Friday consisted of non-stop work, until about 3:15 p.m. And then I decided my weekend was going to start early. I abandoned my responsibilities for a tuna sandwich and a conversation with my husband. It was a good trade.

Of course, around 11 p.m. I realized I still hadn’t taken a photo. So, I searched my house for something photogenic and found my flowers. I thought they looked nice, glowing in the window reflection and back lit by the street lights. But, now that I’m looking at it again, the photo really just seems creepy.

You can’t always be a winner, guys. And really, however creepy my flowers look they’re still 10 times more photogenic than a tuna sandwich. You should be thanking me right now.

June 9 – Do-nothing Saturday

Today was a wonderful do-nothing Saturday. Dustin brought me an iced coffee while I was still in bed, and he ventured out to buy breakfast ingredients. (We aren’t very diligent grocery buyers, so we’re out of normal things like eggs and milk a lot.) After we enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony, we abandoned our plans and goals and just let the day happen. Nothing is more wonderful on a Saturday.

I’m having a lovely afternoon. I thought I would stop by to share it with you.

The weather is perfect in Southern Missouri today; it’s just a little breezy and not at all hot. I moved my office outside for the afternoon. I’m sitting on balcony furniture listening to birds and wind chimes. It’s beautiful.

Living With the Birds made it to the front page of Word Press for the second time today. How crazy, cool is that?

And, there’s pie. You can’t have a bad afternoon when pie is involved, it’s a scientifically proven fact. Granted, my pie is from McDonald’s, but it’s still pie.

If you’re stopping by via Freshly Pressed, and this is your first time here I would love to have you as a follower. You’ll get to see a lot of photos, several lists, and some funny things. (You can become a follower by following the instructions on the right side of your screen.)

This is Living With the Birds blog post no. 101. This morning’s daily photo post was no. 100.

It’s a milestone worth commemorating, and I’ve thought all week (admittedly, it’s only Wednesday) about how to appropriatley mark the three-digit number. I’ve decided to share a few snapshots from my morning along with a few thoughts on blogging. It’s the perfect way to celebrate.

My goal with blogging was self improvement.

I wanted to improve my photography and writing skills, and one of the best ways to get better at something is to do it all the time. I’ve gone back and looked at a few of my first posts. I know it’s only been a few months, but I can already see a ton of improvement.

I’m excited to keep improving and see where my skills are when I reach 200 posts.

The best advice I’ve recieved about blogging is not to publish anything I’m not proud of.

I don’t always succeed in putting together posts I’m excited about and proud of. There are several posts that I’ve finished, and then decided not to publish because I didn’t think they were good enough. There are several other posts I published only because I challeneged myself to take one photo every day, and not publishing something would be failing at that challenge.

But I am always striving to publish posts that I am proud of. I’m certain that most of the reason my writing and photography has improved is because I’m constantly trying to create posts I’m proud of.

If you blog, leave me a comment with some of the best things you’ve gained from blogging. I can’t wait to hear from you.